Improvement in refining petroleum



"dished fitters me time.

Letters Patent No. 106,233, dated'A'ug'zist 9, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN REFINING- PETROLEUM.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same I, J OSEIfH A. TATR0,of Hartford, in the-county of Hartford andStateof Connecticut, have invented an Improved Process for Converting ill'lQVllOlG Product Arising from the Distillation of Crude Petroleum into a Safe'Burning-Oil, of which the following is a specification.

Nature and (9b7'ects0f the Invention.

The process claimed as new herein is identical with th process covered by my patent dated February 8, 1870, and reissued March 1, 1870, with the exception that, in the place of the dry-slaked lime mentioned inthose patents, I use hereirrthe chloride of lime in somewhat different proportions.

General Description.

To show the nature and importance of my inven' tion, as distinguished from the processes already in r use, I will explain that, when crude petroleum is distilled in the common way,the first product is gasoline, the second benzole, the third benzine, the fourth a light oil, the fifth the common burning-oil, then paraiiine-oil, and last a dark heavy oil. The only one of these parts fit for burning in the family lamp'is the iifth product just specified. By my process I am en ablcd to take all the above products, mix them together, and make of the whole a safe and reliable oil. The difiiculiy to be overcome is to raise the fire-test' that is, the temperature at which flame will ignite the oil-to such a point as will make the oil safe for family use, and this I accomplish perfectly.

My process is as follows:

Having distilled the crude oil, and driven over everything that will go over in the worm of the still, and having, say, one hundred gallons of the distillate, take from one sixty-fourth of one per ccntum of sulphuric acid (I have heretofore used acid of 66 gravity) to two per ccntum, the quantity being regulated as hereinafter shown; mix it with the distillate, and agitate the whole most thoroughly. (Ihavc'heretcfore used a mechanical agitator for this purpose, and have found from five to ten minutes agitation longenough to thorough] y mix the distillate and the acid?) Then add from one sixty-fourth of one per centum to four per centum of chloride of lime, sprinkling it over the distillate, and continue the .a-gitation till the desired fire-test is reached. The quantity of chloride of lime is regulated as hereinafter shown.

The fire-test can be raised to a perfectly safe degree, almost anywhere from 110 to 160 Fahrenheit, and the longer the agitation the higher the fire-test. I have found fromthirty to flirty-five minutes long enough. v

The amount of acid and of lime used is determined by the specific gravity of the distillate, using the 'greatcr-quantity for the lighter gravity.

To commence with, the agitation mustbe perfect and thorough.

A fair average gravity for the distillate is 43 or 52, measured by any standard hydromet-cr. No crude oil that will yield a distillate below 40 gravityis likely, in the present state of the art, to be used for the manufactureof burning-oil; neither is a crude oil likely to be used that will yield a distillate of above 52 gravity, so that from' 40 to 52 may be taken, practically, as the range of gravities in the distillate to be treated.

Promising once more that the agitation is perfectly done, about one-fourth of one per centumpf sulphuric acid will do for a distillate of 40 gravity, and the percentage increases regularly as the gravity rises, till about two per ceutum of acid are required fora distillate of 52 gravity.

As to chloride of lime, for a distillate of 40 gravity, from one sixtyfourth to one-fourth of one per centum will do, and the percentage rises with the gravity till it needs about four per centum for a distillate of 52 gravity.

The quantities of acid and chloride to be used for gravitics lower than 40 or higher than 52 can be determined by the proportions already given.

The process described herein is claimed simply as an improvement on the process described in my said dients, in about the proportion speciiied, to the whole,

product arising from the distillation of crude petrolcnm, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

JOSEPH A. TATRO.

Witnesses:

CHARLES E. FELLows, Tune. G. ELLIS. 

